I have to say that my love affair with iTunes--despite the fact that they helped introduce me to the iPhone--is quickly coming to an end.
I just discovered LaLa.com (ironically discovered through Tap Tap Revenge, an iPhone App) which basically allows me to listen to the full song before I purchase it (something Steve Jobs should have included).
They basically give users two options. You can either purchase a web version (which means you can listen to the song anytime online) for 10 cents, or download the entire song for 89 cents (compared to Apple's 99 cents per song).
Albums are even cheaper, which means that the only thing I will be ordering from iTunes will be iPhone Apps (as I already get my shows from Amazon Unbox--sorry Apple).
It looks as if my mean Uncle may be giving me the necessary cash in order to purchase an iPhone later on this year.
(KlTV 7 News) Individuals earning 3,000 to 75,000 a year get a rebate of 300 to 600 dollars. For families making up to 150,000 annually, your rebate could be up to 1,200 dollars, plus an extra 300 for each child under 17. But how exactly will the rebates affect taxpayers like you?
Rebate checks are coming as early as May for millions of Americans.
Since you probably have to make at least $75,000 to get the $600, that probably excludes me from the full rebate (note: you can figure out how much you will probably get thanks to this handy dandy calculator).
Unless I can locate a decent smart phone in the next few months, my future phone choices will be: do I choose the 8gb model or the 16gb?
Note: For international readers who do not understand the joke, I am referring to my Uncle Sam.
The Democrats are promising me more taxes, While a certain republican is promising me more wars. If I had to choose between the two... I'd relocate towards Singapore.
Sigh. I guess I'll be pulling for Mitt Romney as a first choice, followed by Barack Obama.
If its Hillary and McCain as the party nominees, I might have to actually flip a coin.
So I was debating between purchasing a brand new LG Voyager or LG Venus--or switching away from Verizon in order to pick up a brand new iPhone (and signing my economic soul with AT&T...scary).
In the end it was not the fact that the iPhone had cover flow, or that Voyager has vibration feed back when you touch the screen, or even the customer service of either (Verizon is rivaled only by Apple, although AT&T brings them down a notch).
It was the apps baby!
Or more specifically, the programs I could add to customize the phone.
LG Voyager has 22 Apps of which I only found three to be really useful.
LG Venus has 27 Apps of which I found a pathetic two to be of any use to me.
Apple's iPhone has a whopping 738 Apps (and counting), of which I found too many to ignore to be useful! (I'm still going through them!)
While I have the funds to purchase an iPhone (for $399), I don't have the cash (right now) to both purchase an iPhone, cancel my account with Verizon ($175...ghetto!) and pick up a plan with AT&T (who's customer disservice is unparalleled...at least it was many moons ago).
I've decided to pull one of my blogs out of the BlogBurst Network, due to the fact that content theft on several of my blogs is getting out of hand. Although this is a "sign of popularity," I have decided to remove my space blog from its ranks before it became to popular.
Although this may hurt my blog in the short term, I feel like this will benefit me in the long run.
I may also decide to launch a mini-blog network to serve as a "home" for all of these blogs, as Google seems to be compensating me nicely for maintaining eloquent posts.
...the battle over the GOP spotlight. Who will win?
Thus far I like Romney, but to tell you the truth, I am not a fan of any candidate running for president currently on both sides of the political aisle.
Hopefully a dark horse candidate will appear before September, otherwise I may be voting for Mickey Mouse along with a million other Americans in 2008.
Well, today I just discovered why time management is important. And why I need to upload more of my life on Google's servers (this time via Google Calendar).
Basically, I contacted a friend and let him know that I would be getting in touch with him later on today this evening.
Ironically, I discovered an event at church that is happening around the same time (give or take an hour). Although I have not committed to the event, everyone is probably expecting me to be there because I attended the same event last year.
And to make matters worse, one of the church members emailed me to make sure that I am wearing red (I think it's a theme or something, although I hope it has nothing to do with star trek).
I may be able to make the opening ceremonies, but I am definitely going to have to miss the dinner. I'll probably get some flack for it via MySpace (that is if I both check it next week) but that would be better than disappointing my friend.
So I finally migrated another part of my life onto Google's servers, and I noticed several great things (as well as bad minor issues) with Blogger's Custom Domain.
Another user could claim your domain via Blogger, preventing you from using it (see my theory for details on my second thread response)
Your Google Page rank drops (which means you'll have to resubmit it everywhere again)
Now, in my opinion the good definitely out weighs the bad, and I would seriously recommend any serious blogger to consider switching over as it does have a way of making your site feel a little more professional.
Note: Is it me, or did Blogger just become cooler than WordPress?
I never thought I would ever say this, but it seems that Google (or rather Blogger) has once again reinvented the way blogging is done!
(Blogger Buzz) The new version of Blogger now supports using a custom domain for serving your blog. If you already own a domain named, say, mysite.com and want your blog to be served at that address instead of at a blogspot.com address, we can host your blog on that domain for you — for free. Your old Blog*Spot address will forward to your new custom domain, so the switch will be seamless for your readers.
I've already purchased several domains I would love to try this on (those being InsideOrkut.com, DarnellClayton.com, ColonyWorlds.com, IsraGood.com) and I will move my blog over to the self hosting later on today (after I get some sleep).
So after severalothereditors decided to leave the Blog Herald (with two of them blogging over at 901 am) I've decided to stay and blog on.
Besides, it's teaching me a lot about how to write and interact with people (especially of different minds, cultures, etc.). How could I leave something like that?
Do you ever remember what you wanted to be when you were a little kid? Most people do, although many people have given up on those dreams for "second best" or worse.
But what if you could choose to do what you wanted to do since you were little? Would you pursue it?
We all need money. Money is the blood of any economy, and if it ever stops circulating then your nation is registered as dead.
But dreams, goals, visions (whatever you call them) are the motivation behind the mind that creates the nation, business, etc. and without it we would all become nothing more than depressed robots stuck in a building working only to pay the bills and live another day.
But if you had to choose between the money or your dream, what would you choose? And, more importantly, is it possible to have both?
Possibly, but that involves risk, and to fail at striving so hard is more than enough to make most people shrink back in life.
About a year ago when I was studying for my investment license, I came across this phrase:
"The greater the risk, the greater the reward."
I think I am now at a cross roads in life. I can:
Do something I kind of enjoy and make lots of money or
Risk doing something that may not be profitable at first, but will satisfy this burning desire within.
I must admit I am wavering at the two, but then I am reminded that some things are done not for the money.
